Cities and Trade in Mexican Texan

Cities and Trade in Mexican

Texas

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Copyright © 2021 The Rittmann Group, LLC

The majority of those living in Mexican Texas lived on

isolated farms and ranches, or in small rural

communities

There were, however, a few larger
settlements and cities, including:

Where Texans Lived

Home to over 1,000 people,

primarily Tejanos

San Antonio

Nacogdoches

Goliad

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Due to the complexities of governing larger

populations, these towns had formal government,

usually comprised of—

Governance in Texas Cities

ayunamiento :

also known as a city council

alcalde :

A member of the ayunamiento who was elected to be the

leader or mayor

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The town ayunamiento had oversight of several

important responsibilities, which were outlined in the

Constitution of Coahuila y Texas

Governance in Texas Cities

These responsibilities included:

• establishment of a police force

• road maintenance

• food inspection

• sanitation projects

• health care

These services and projects were paid for via taxes paid by

those who lived in the settlements

• road maintenance

• road maintenance

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These towns served as centers for both civic and

commercial activity

The Makeup of Texas Cities

In addition to housing governmental offices, towns also

contained shops and stores owned by craftsmen

blacksmiths:

Who created tools & equipment

valuable to farmers and

ranchers, like plows

carpenters:

Who crafted items, including

wagons and furniture

sawmills:

That processed lumber for use

by settlers and to send/sell

elsewhere

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A lack of paper currency or coinage meant that most
commercial transactions in town were conducted via

barter , instead of cash payments

Commerce in Texas Cities

Bartering is the

practice of negotiating

goods or services in

trade for other goods or

services

Even stores often functioned on barter and/or

credit systems, as so little cash was available on the

frontier

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Some of the items that were grown or made in Texas
were transported to be sold elsewhere– these goods

are known as exports

These exports were sent– often to the United States– via over land
trade routes, as well as via ships that sailed on the Gulf of Mexico

Imports and Exports

Notable items exported

from Texas included

• cattle

• corn

• timber

• furs

• horses
• pork

Cattle from Texas being driven by vaqueros, likely

to be sold to markets in the United States

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Goods from other places (particularly those from the
U.S.) were imports , brought into Texas to be bought

and used by the settlers living there

• Notable items imported into

Texas included:

• Manufactured goods
• Luxury Goods

Imports and Exports

• These items were imported

because Texans did not have
the ability to manufacture–
or make them– themselves
at the time

Large ships were able to dock in some
Texas ports, allowing for goods to be

brought in from other places

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The biggest obstacle to trade in Texas– for both

imports and exports– was transportation

The roads that connected the towns, settlements and ports of Texas

were often poorly maintained and extremely rough

The Trouble With Trade

Wagon ruts are still visible on parts of the

El Camino Real trail in East Texas (pictured

above)

An example of wagon ruts (pictured left)

• The wet conditions common

on the coastal plains (where
most towns and settlements
were located) meant that the

roads often became

impassible, filled with mud

and deep ruts

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Other than roads, the main mode of transportation
available to Texans who wanted to move goods from

place to place, was via water– especially rivers

The Trouble With Trade

• Unfortunately, many of the rivers

in Texas are extremely shallow

• Their flow/depth varies greatly on

the amount of rain that has
recently fallen

• They are also often rocky and/or

filled with sandbars

This made it difficult for anything except small, flat bottomed boats
or rafts to navigate– which limited how much cargo could be sent via

water transportation routes

The Lavaca River, used by Texans to

move goods to Lavaca Bay

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One advantage trade and transportation

did have, was

the availability of ports along the Gulf of Mexico,

including:

The Trouble With Trade

Galveston

Matagorda

Brazoria

The shallow bays and coastal barrier islands were well protected,

making them well-suited as sites for ports

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In addition to housing craftsmen, merchants and

traders, towns in Mexican Texas were also home to

settlers

Living in Texas Settlements

• In towns like San Antonio and Victoria, town dwellers often

lived in houses built of adobe brick, or in small huts
constructed of sticks and mud (known as

jacales )

• In deep East Texas, homes were built of rough-hewn log cabins

An example of a jacale in

southeast Texas (left)

-and-

A log cabin in East Texas

(right)

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Most of these homes had modest gardens built

alongside them, which were used to grow food by

these town dwellers

Living in Texas Settlements

• However, small gardens

were not enough to supply
all their needs

• What they couldn’t grow

themselves, they obtained
from the farms and ranches
nearby

• This provided farmers and

ranchers with a source of
income and a market for
their crops and livestock

Recreated gardens that are similar to those that

would have been found outside of frontier homes in

Texas

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How did the environment and geography of the

subregions in which these settlers lived, effect how

they built their homes?

Living in Texas Settlements

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTION!

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The town of San Antonio was by far the largest

settlement in Texas during the 1820s

Notable Settlements: San

Antonio

• San Antonio had originally

been founded in 1718, as a
series of missions and
presidios

Map of El Camino Real

• It would eventually grow

into a bustling settlement,
especially after becoming
a key stop on El Camino
Real, the road that
connected East Texas to
Mexico City

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By the 1820s, San Antonio was home to approximately

2,000 people, and continued to grow

Notable Settlements: San

Antonio

• Those living there primarily made their living through farming

and ranching

• Still, many craftsmen,

store owners and
merchants also lived
there

• Some of these

businesses were even
owned/managed
independently by
women

An artist's depiction of a
San Antonio neighborhood

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Despite its size and long history as an established
settlement, San Antonio was still a frontier town

Notable Settlements: San

Antonio

• The streets were unpaved and undeveloped, frequently

becoming a muddy rutted mess after any substantial rainfall

The acequias of

San Antonio

• Acequias– the massive irrigation canals constructed by the

Spanish, to divert the water of the San Antonio River– were
open to the air

• This made them vulnerable to

pollution (including dust, trash,
animal waste and more)

• Outbreaks of disease– in part due

to inadequate sanitation– were
very common

Notice the lack of

cover, which made it
easy for pollutants to

fall/blow in

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In contrast with the long-established settlement of
San Antonio, Nacogdoches had been founded much

later, in the late 1700s

Notable Settlements:

Nacogdoches

• The first settlers there had been

former inhabitants of Bucareli, the
settlement that had been founded–
and then abandoned– by people who
had been displaced after the
evacuation of La Bahia

• Nacogdoches had been founded– and

primarily settled– by Tejanos

• In the later years of the Mexican War

of Independence, the town had been
all but abandoned

The Old Stone Fort of
Nacogdoches, built by

Antonio Gil Y’barbo and the

early settlers of

Nacogdoches

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Notable Settlements:

Nacogdoches

• Like those living in San Antonio,

they primarily made their living by
farming

The town of Nacogdoches in the

1800s

However, between 1825 and 1835, the population

consistently increased, up to 1,000 settlers– and was

very diverse

• Those living in Nacogdoches

included a mix of Tejanos, Anglos
and enslaved peoples of African
descent

• A smaller number of craftsmen,

shops and merchants also
established themselves in the
settlement

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In addition to San Antonio and Nacogdoches, several

other towns also blossomed during the 1820s and

early 1830s, including:

Other Notable Settlements

Goliad:

Originally the

settlement of La Bahia,

established as a

settlement and presidio
by Jose de Escandon in

1749, it was renamed
“Goliad” in honor of

Father Miguel Hidalgo

(Goliad is an anagram of
Hidalgo’s name, minus

the –H)

Mexican soldiers

remained stationed at

the presidio there

Victoria:

The capital of the

colony established by
Martin De Leon in 1824,

just 30 miles inland

from the Gulf of Mexico

Victoria is named after
the first president of the

Mexican Republic,

Guadalupe Victoria– it
grew to a population of

300 in just 10 years

San Felipe
(de Austin):

The capital of Austin’s
colony, San Felipe (as it
was usually referred to)
was established in 1823,
along the Brazos River

It grew to a population
of 600 by 1835, and was

second only to San
Antonio in terms of

commercial activity and

development

Exit Ticket

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Why were the towns of Texas important to the

development of the Texas economy?

While most Texans did not live in these larger
settlements, they were nevertheless crucial to

the developing economy of the state